1:00 AM,
Jan. 13, 2013

U.S. Navy Reserve Lt. Mike Cook is part of the Joint Task Force planning the military's role in the presidential inauguration.

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Today at midnight, Lt. Mike Cook will watch the presidential inauguration. It isn't the actual inauguration, which is Jan. 21, but the midnight dress rehearsal will go a long way toward letting Cook know how successful the more than nine months he has spent helping to plan the upcoming event has been.

Since April, Cook has been working tirelessly to ensure that the military part of the inauguration, which attracted a record 1.8 million people in 2009, goes off without a hitch.

About 13,500 members of the military will take part in the event. Most will have specific duties - from directing ...